No, you do not need a tachometer to hook up a HEI (High Energy Ignition) distributor. The HEI distributor can be connected directly to the ignition system without requiring a tachometer for its basic operation. However, if you want to monitor engine RPMs, you can install a tachometer separately.
On the dist., cap, where the wires go in, there is a tab labeled TACH.
You would hook to the negative side of the coil. Some HEI distributor caps are marked "tach".
if it is a hei ignition there is a place on the distributor cap that says tach.
are you talking about a sm. block hei. dist. if so there are 2 spade connectors on the side of the cap , one says tach. The tach signal comes from the negative side of the coil.
The green wire from the tach goes to the negative side of the coil.
u have to look at ur distributor if it is an HEI "coil on top there is markings on the distributor cap for the tach but if it is a regular distributor with an external coil you hook it up to the neg wire off the coil neg/ black wire
Yes, a disconnected or broken TACH wire from the HEI distributor cap can cause a '79 trans to fail to start.
You do need a switched live to the bat terminal, but not to the tach terminal. The tach terminal is the negative side of the coil, the bat terminal is the positive side of the coil. Normally the tach terminal is for the green wire from the tach.
0.045
On the distributor cap there is an extension that juts out toward the driver side. underneath this are two wire terminals. they should be marked on the top of the cap "Tach" and "Batt." A wire with a male spade end crimped onto it fits into the "tach" terminal and provides a signal for your tachometer to use.
HEI 0.45 HEI~ High Energy Ignition/NO POINTS Large Dist. Cap No external coil Non-HEI .035
Green is trigger which goes to the tach side on HEI distributor. Red to positive, black to neg, and remaining wire is for the light so it is hooked to anything on your light circuit such as dash lights.